Immigration conducts biggest single offload

A group of Malaysian women have been denied boarding on a flight to New Zealand in what is Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) largest ever single offload.

INZ Border Operations Manager Karen Urwin says the nine women were allegedly coming to New Zealand for a week-long tour of the South Island.

“INZ intercepted a husband and wife in Kuala Lumpur as we had reason to believe the wife had previously been engaged in people smuggling outside of New Zealand. It transpired that they were facilitating the travel of nine Malaysian women to New Zealand the next day.”

Ms Urwin says that the nine women said they were planning to travel around the South Island but could not give a proper explanation of their plans.  They also did not have enough funds to support their story.

“As a result all nine passengers were denied boarding to Christchurch as we doubted their intentions,” says Ms Urwin.

“This is the largest single offload that INZ has completed and highlights how crucial it is that we share information with our international partners to protect the integrity of our border.”